c'mon guys getwithit! I had to listen to boring operas played in class over and over and then had to analyse the theme music and structure; FFS and I never studied music!...it was to enrich my cultural values. So picture this: teacher lets the dear little angels watch "Bold and Kak"; then they are to write an essay about the structure of the plot, who the bad guys are, who's frecking whom and what the moral of the story is...highly educational! And above all they can converse on the playgrounds about the morality of society in the US. In addition, they learn to speak American! (Probably a lot better than the English their teachers are able to speak!)

I have just marked some Grade 10 Geography exams. One of their modules is "People and their Organisations" cue some questions about UN, ANC etc... according to one of the girls ANC stands for Analytical National Council and Tokyo Sexwale is head of the United Nations.... while I really do think South Africa might need an Analytical National Council this is beyond depressing I'd say I blame the teacher but it's me!

My kids grew up without TV.... as in NONE whatsoever. Seems a bit unfair that the question is about something on TV and not something that can only be found in a book.

TV or not this entire module is taught in school, in their textbooks, they have done case studies on each of these organisations!! Interestingly the new curriculum has disposed of this module for 2012.

The government's official policy on education seems to be that the previously disadvantaged should remain so. They will of course claim differently, but I think a government's real policy is surely exemplified but what they do rather than what they say?

Now I should be careful what I say here, seeing as I don't have kids myself, but many of my friends do and I have done my share of helping with homework etc. I also have some experience as teacher, and among other things, I have invigilated at exams so I got to see the question papers for several subjects.

Something I noticed with the curricula, is that they are all set up under the assumption that pupils (yes, pupils, NOT frickin' "learners!") are all middle class, with access to libraries, internet, educated parents that can assist etc. Homework tasks almost always require them to do plenty of research, or find pictures on the web (or cut them from old magazines), or interview the local doctor, or that sort of thing. Such a curriculum might well work like a charm in Sweden or Holland. Here in South Africa, where most pupils do not have any access to the required materials, it serves to keep them in the dark, while the kids from more affluent homes might well thrive.

If the government's sole purpose had been to entrench the socio-economic status quo, they couldn't have done a better job of it than with their current education policy. Which is why I can confidently pronounce that whatever they may claim, their actual policy is that the previously disadvantaged should remain disadvantaged.

A previous poster mentioned the absurd exam question that assumed the kids have a TV. This kind of thing is absolutely pervasive. In a recent technology exam, I saw pictures of such things as fax machines, photocopiers, computers etc. Some of these things I myself couldn't even identify with any certainty, but that was the question: identify the technology in the picture and discuss what it is for.

A few months ago I had an interesting chat with a police constable who is originally from Limpopo province. Like many rural kids, his mother is a domestic servant and he grew up in a large and not too rich family. He tells me that the very first time he ever saw a computer in his life was when he joined the police force. I wonder how he fared in his technology exams, despite the fact that he struck me as obviously highly intelligent and hard-working.

And so the people get screwed by the very government that pledged itself to their upliftment.

Of course my sympathy is limited: in a democracy you get the government you deserve.